Photo: Romain Etienne
NEWS Kalevi Aho at 75 Kalevi Aho, one of Finland’s most celebrated contemporary composers, will be 75 on 9 March 2024, and there will be numerous concerts to mark the event. The Saimaa Sinfonietta has commissioned him to write his 18th symphony, to be premiered in Mikkeli on 8 February with Erkki Lasonpalo conducting. The Oulu Symphony Orchestra under Jessica Cottis will be premiering Aho’s new Double Concerto with Christel Lee (violin) and Jonathan Roozeman (cello) as the soloists on 25 April, and the programmes for many other orchestras and festivals will include works by Aho. October 2023 saw the publication of a biography by Hannu Lahtonen giving a detailed account (in Finnish) of Kalevi Aho’s life and work, career and performances in Finland and abroad.
Exciting new guitar concertos on CD Guitar concertos by three front-line Finnish composers have been released by Alba Records on a disc titled Exquisitely Absurd. Antti Auvinen’s Andalusian Panzerwagen Jazz represents his typical maximalist-anarchist style combining various styles and ideas, while the approach of Lotta Wennäkoski in Susurrus is both humorous and outright lyrical. The orchestration of Riikka Talvitie’s Without Irony is from time to time unashamedly brilliant, but it is not without a touch of intimate mystery (See: Repertoire tips). The Tapiola Sinfonietta is conducted on this CD by Dima Slobodeniouk and the soloist is one of Finland’s most versatile classical guitarists, Petri Kumela. Photo: Henrik Halvarsson
Ilkka Kuusisto’s opera music on stage Ilkka Kuusisto (b. 1933) reached 90 this year. The emphasis in his broad and diverse output is on vocal music, and he is one of the most prolific and most-performed Finnish composers of opera. Among the many that have flowed from his pen is The Moomin Opera. His birthday year was celebrated in November, when the Sibelius Academy Opera staged a varied cross-section of his popular vocal works.
Developments at Fennica Gehrman
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Editors: Henna Salmela, Kristina Fryklöf Translations: Susan Sinisalo, Robert Carroll, Apropos lingua Cover photos: Marie Samuelsson (Mats Bäcker); Roope Mäenpää (Ville Hautakangas) Design: Tenhelp Oy and video symbols in the text. Click the sound ISSN 2000-2750 (Online)
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4/2023
Mats Larsson Gothe’s and Susanne Marko’s The Promise (Löftet) is being staged once again by the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. This opera, based on real events, had its world premiere on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2022. It is about Ava, who is separated from her husband Teo in a concentration camp, and her struggle to find him again after the war is over. The production can be seen at the Royal Opera from 23 February to 4 April 2024, with Hannah Husáhr, Agnes Auer and Jens Persson Hertzmann in the leading roles.
Damström’s busy spring 4/2023
NEWSLE T TER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN
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Revival of The Promise in Stockholm
Photo: Ville Juurikkala
Jennah Vainio has been appointed Fennica Gehrman’s new Publishing Manager from 1 December. Vainio is a composer who has held varied posts on the Finnish music scene. She has been a music advisor at Teosto, the Finnish Composers’ Copyright Society, and Artistic Director of the Tampere Biennale music festival. She was also a founding member of the Uusinta publishing company. Henna Salmela is the Director of Administration, in charge of administration, financing and promotion at Fennica Gehrman.
The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra will premiere Cecilia Damström’s Extinctions on 26 January under Chloé Dufresne. They will also give two performances of her ICE conducted by Nicholas Collon in February. Her accordion concerto Permafrost will have its world premiere on 16 February during the Kokkola Winter Accordion Festival with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and Sonja Vertainen as soloist. 12 April will see the Finnish premiere of Wasteland at the Tampere Biennale, with Olari Elts leading the Tampere Philharmonic.
Cecilia Damström